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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Actions Of Octocoral And Tobacco Cembranoids On Nicotinic Receptors, P. A. Ferchmin, Oné R. Pagán, Henning Ulrich, Ada C. Szeto, Richard M. Hann, Vesna A. Eterović
Actions Of Octocoral And Tobacco Cembranoids On Nicotinic Receptors, P. A. Ferchmin, Oné R. Pagán, Henning Ulrich, Ada C. Szeto, Richard M. Hann, Vesna A. Eterović
Biology Faculty Publications
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) are pentameric proteins that form agonist-gated cation channels through the plasma membrane. AChR agonists and antagonists are potential candidates for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Cembranoids are naturally occurring diterpenoids that contain a 14-carbon ring. These diterpenoids interact with AChRs in complex ways: as irreversible inhibitors at the agonist sites, as noncompetitive inhibitors, or as positive modulators, but no cembranoid was ever shown to have agonistic activity on AChRs. The cembranoid eupalmerin acetate displays positive modulation of agonist-induced currents in the muscle-type AChR and in the related gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) type A receptor. Moreover, cembranoids display …
A Cembranoid From Tobacco Prevents The Expression Of Nicotineinduced Withdrawal Behavior In Planarian Worms, Oné R. Pagán, Amanda L. Rowlands, Angela L. Fattore, Tamara Coudron, Kimberly R. Urban, Apurva H. Bidja, Vesna A. Eterović
A Cembranoid From Tobacco Prevents The Expression Of Nicotineinduced Withdrawal Behavior In Planarian Worms, Oné R. Pagán, Amanda L. Rowlands, Angela L. Fattore, Tamara Coudron, Kimberly R. Urban, Apurva H. Bidja, Vesna A. Eterović
Biology Faculty Publications
Using an adaptation of published behavioral protocols, we determined that acute exposure to the cholinergic compounds nicotine and carbamylcholine decreased planarian motility in a concentration-dependent manner. A tobacco cembranoid (1S,2E,4R,6R,7E,11E)-cembra-2,7,11- triene-4,6-diol (4R-cembranoid), also decreased planarian motility. Experiments in the presence of 1 μM 4R-cembranoid did increase the IC50 for nicotine- but not carbamylcholine-induced decrease in planarian motility. When planarians were exposed for 24 h to either nicotine or carbamylcholine at concentrations near their respective IC50 values and then transferred to plain media, nicotineexposed, but not carbamylcholine- or cembranoid-exposed worms displayed withdrawal-like distress behaviors. In experiments where planarians were pre-exposed to …